My First Day of My First Rotation!

Today was the big day...the reason why I am in Portland...rotation numero uno began!

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous. I didn't quite know what to expect, not to mention there's always some degree of apprehensiveness attached when one begins a new adventure. I began my morning routine and took the MAX into town, then successfully boarded my bus across the bridge. By 9am, I was meeting my peers at Lloyd's Center Pharmacy. Everyone was very welcoming...the whole crew seems like such a fun bunch! My rotation began with a tour of the pharmacy (the breakroom, the 795 lab, the 797 lab, the office area, etc), followed by viewing of a few compounding safety videos. I then spent the rest of the morning reading through three chapters of the United States Pharmacopeia/National Formulary, working through a few pharmaceutical calculations towards the end. Fun, fun! Lunch time, then I garbed up (with a gown, booties, hair bonnet, gloves, face mask, and hepa-filter mask) and headed into the lab. One of the expert technicians showed me around, and preceeded to show me their compounding process. It was interesting...I know I'm going to learn a lot on this rotation, and be a pro at compounding by the time I'm finished in Portland! Before the day was over, I had helped compound a suspension (an antibiotic powder ground up very fine and put into a liquid vehicle that needs to be shaken before the patient takes his/her dose). This particular patient was a bird, and we flavored it grape so that the suspension would taste better and be easier for the pet owner to get the bird to swallow. Nothing too complicated. Around 4:30pm, the pharmacist gave me a journal article to read as homework (oh great, homework on the first day!) and told me that I could head home early. Tomorrow I get to spend more time in the lab...sweet!

I rode the MAX home, and Allison and I cooked supper together. Chicken, corn on the cob, and potatoes... yummy. Later in the evening, we headed to a local coffee shop with free wifi, where Allison surfed the web and I did my homework. The coffee shop, The Human Bean, was a really neat place. And relatively inexpensive...two small mochas for $5. I got a punch card :)

Back at home now...heading to bed early. From now on, I work 8am-4:30pm shifts. Early mornings :( but evenings free from work :)

Tomorrow is Allison's last full day here in Oregon...we plan on heading into the city tomorrow night so that she can say goodbye to Portland. I can't believe we've been here a week already!